


Am I Ever Gonna Fall In Love In New York City?

by CityOfPaperBuildings



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bartender!Derek, M/M, cop!Stiles, musician!Danny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2017-12-22 08:36:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/911136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CityOfPaperBuildings/pseuds/CityOfPaperBuildings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Danny is a musician and Stiles is a beat cop who walks into a bar on the night that Danny plays.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Am I Ever Gonna Fall In Love In New York City?

**Author's Note:**

> My eternal thanks to 17pansies for making this far better than it was when it first landed in her inbox <3

Danny wiped the bar for what had to be the hundredth time that evening. The rag, which may have been white at the beginning of its life, just smeared the sticky drops of spilled alcohol around, the wooden top long since saturated. He looked around the dimly lit room and did a quick headcount, coming up with about fifty. A good crowd but then again, it was music night.

Derek appeared at his side, quiet as a cat. At least Danny had got better at not visibly showing how much that freaked him out, even though his heart still threatened to pound out of his chest every damn time.

"Band all set?" he asked, taking the cloth from Danny's hand.

"Good to go," replied Danny.

"Not without their trumpet man," corrected Derek. "Go make them fall in love with you."

"Yeah," said Danny, rolling his eyes as he grabbed his case from under the bar where he kept it for safety. A life as a jobbing bartender/musician was no real way to live in New York but it was the only way Danny knew how. If he couldn't play, what was the point? He'd only been working at the bar for two weeks but Hale's allowed him to play and earn enough to keep the wolves from the door and if he was lucky, like tonight, he could bring along the band he loved to play with.

Allison Argent on the double-bass, the girl could handle a bow better than anyone he'd ever seen; Scott McCall on the drums who used his big brown eyes to guilt everyone into dropping a few coins in the hat and Lydia Martin on keys.

Danny headed out back to warm up, coaxing his second-hand, battered but much-loved instrument to life.

/

Stiles pushed the door open, stepping into the dark, comforting interior of Hale’s as he took his black hat off. He’d been coming here as long as he could remember, well before he was of legal drinking age. He used to come in with his dad, until the fire which had gutted the place, and sit in the corner with a soda whilst Sergeant Stilinksi had talked shop with old man Hale. Now, both the bar and the beat had been passed down to the next in line.

Derek looked up and nodded in recognition as Stiles dropped onto a stool at the bar. He wasn’t the chattiest of bartenders, but Derek had rebuilt the place pretty much from the ground up, and Stiles had been there the whole time, keeping the gangs from the sidewalks and the pushers from the alley out back.

"Long day, officer?" asked Derek, as he pushed three fingers of whiskey across the bar, waving away Stiles' attempts to pay.

"Something like that," replied Stiles, downing half the glass in one swallow and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Stiles was tired today, just like he was at the end of every day pounding the streets, but recently it had felt that it was more than that. His dad had died last year, leaving him with the tiny apartment and the responsibility of the neighborhood on his shoulders. Stiles had been their patrolman for 3 years by the time his dad died and so when it happened, the neighborhood took him in, taking care of their adopted son.

And as much as he loved them, his adopted family, he was growing tired of this life. Tired of walking the same old beat every day, seeing the same faces and never having anyone to go home to at night. His dad had been sick, towards the end, and so finding a significant other had never really been high up on Stiles’ to-do list. But it wasn't like he hadn't had the opportunity since. There were plenty of girls and guys who were fun enough for a night or two but none of them ever set his heart alight. They were a band-aid, not a permanent solution.

He looked up as he heard the increased chatter from the crowd as the band came on stage and his stomach rolled. A guy he'd never seen before walked on. He was dressed in a dark grey shirt, black tie slung around the slightly open neck, black pinstripe waistcoat, black trousers and shoes which had seen better days. This was all topped off with a black trilby accented with a dark grey band. Stiles couldn't stop looking. The guy had eyes Stiles wanted to spend time staring into and a kind face. It sounded stupid, a kind face, but it was a rarity around here. Everyone looked haunted or pinched and walked like there were demons on their backs.

This guy had none of that. He had hope and life and a bounce to his walk that Stiles knew he’d once had himself.

Stiles watched as the guy lifted a well-used trumpet up to a cupid’s bow mouth. A slow haunting sound escaped the instrument and Stiles listened, enraptured, as the music rose and fell like the swell of the ocean. There was something about the sound which made him feel like the musician was speaking straight to him. He wasn't sure what the message was but he just let himself relax, forgetting his cares if just for now.

One by one the rest of the band joined in, adding layers to the trumpet’s melody and gradually picking up the tempo. What had started out as an almost mournful piece had ended with the patrons up and dancing.

The music this guy played cut straight to Stiles' heart in the best possible way. He couldn't explain it, had no idea why the music affected him so, but frankly he didn't care. He could watch this man play all night. As tune after tune filled his ears Stiles realised that the passion and enthusiasm that this guy exuded was incredibly attractive. It was painfully obvious that music was as important as breathing to this guy, it was the reason he got up in the morning. It was the same way Stiles had used to feel about his job.

/

Danny scanned the crowd to sense the mood as he played, and it didn’t take long for his eye to catch a face he hadn't seen before, one that made his heart jump in his chest.

The guy looked to be about Danny's age, shrouded in a big navy jacket with hair just the right side of long and for a moment Danny wondered what it would be like to twist his fingers in it. But this man also looked sad and tired, too tired for someone so young. Danny dipped his trumpet, caught the guy’s eye and played the rest of the set for him.

After the last note had sprung from his lips Danny looked up, an irrepressible smile stretching across his face as adrenaline surged through him, and he sought out the man at the back of the room.

He hadn’t expected the kind of reaction he saw. The guy almost seemed transformed. He was sat upright, coat dumped on the bar, and his eyes were bright, dancing above a smile of pure joy.  
Danny's heart threatened to burst out of his chest. He'd done that. His music had brought a smile to this guy's face, at least for now, and hell, that was enough for Danny.

The set finished and the crowd leapt up, hollering their applause. The band took their bows and left the stage. Danny took care to pack his instrument away, fingers trembling from the adrenaline of a good show and maybe a slight hint of nerves.

He headed into the crowd, making a beeline for his mystery man who had clocked his approach and ordered drinks for them both.

/

"I’m Stiles," he introduced himself, standing up and handing over the beer.

"Thanks. Danny," he replied, gratefully accepting the drink, swallowing half of it down in one go. And if Stiles found himself watching Danny's Adam's apple bob up and down, well, no one needed to know.

"I've not seen you around before," said Stiles. "D'you come here often?" As soon as the words left his lips he cringed. He sounded like one of those sleazy guys he'd hauled away from many a bar. "I mean," he scrambled, "I've lived here all my life, this is my beat. I thought I'd have noticed you is all..."

He trailed off, blushing furiously, hand scratching the back of his neck. Danny looked at him, his eyes laughing even though Stiles could see he was trying to keep his smile under control.

"I've only been here a couple of weeks. I work as much as I can just to pay rent so that doesn’t leave a lot of time for meeting new people...something I’m regretting now,” he said, shifting slightly into Stiles’ body to let someone squeeze past. "You said this is your beat, you're a cop then?"

"Yeah, following in the old man's footsteps and all that. This was his neighbourhood for years and then I kind of inherited it. So if you ever need a guide, I'm your man," he finished with a smile. Was Danny flirting? Stiles couldn't tell, he was horrible at it.

"I guess you don't get much free time though? Looking after all this isn't a 40 hour week, right?" Danny asked.

"Not as much as I'd like, no," Stiles admitted. "But perhaps I just need a reason to get out of the uniform more often..." He left it hanging, hardly able to believe he’d actually said those words, not just thought them.

"Is that an invitation?" asked Danny with a mischievous smile.

Stiles beamed back and looked down for a second as he tried not to appear over-eager. When he met Danny's gaze again, it was all he could do not to kiss him right there and then. Danny's expressive eyes were bright and Stiles could see a faint flush of colour just visible across his cheeks and at the base of his throat. If the warmth in his own face was anything to go by, he thought, Danny wasn’t the only one reacting to the other’s presence.

"I'd say so."

And with the hope of something more in the air, Stiles thought he might stick around the neighbourhood a little longer.

**Author's Note:**

> I imagine the piece Danny plays starts out something like this:  
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RorQ0cMoaEE
> 
> And it ends with something like this:  
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqccW7CtCjQ
> 
> Danny's outfit is lifted straight from this picture:  
> http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3182209792/nm4172117


End file.
